Rules

In order to run the best song contest we can with Fête de la Chanson, we’ve created some rules that will help everyone achieve that goal.

Disclaimer: These rules are subject to change only prior to the opening of an edition. An edition officially opens when countries are reserved.

As of Fête de la Chanson 9, the hosting of the contest will rotate between Nick and Patrick. Nick will host even-numbered editions and Patrick will host odd-numbered editions. All rules, unless otherwise stated, will apply to all editions.

Songs & Countries

Fête de la Chanson will not allow songs:

That competed in Eurovision, JESC, or national finals.

That were released before 1 January 2000.

That have previously competed in FdlC or its sister contest, the Eurovision Times Song Contest.

Covers are allowed, but the hosts encourage that players also consider original versions before sending covers.

At the beginning of the edition, it will be announced whether or not the edition will have a recap. Should there be a recap, when selecting one’s song, please also submit a 25 second piece of the song to be included in the recap for that edition. (Note: Nick-hosted editions will certainly have recaps but Patrick-hosted editions might not)

Once you submit a song, you cannot change it unless it is found to have broken one of the rules.

Any of the 193 member states of the UN may take part. In addition, six other countries are allowed to take part:

Hong Kong

Kosovo

Macau

Palestine

Puerto Rico

Taiwan

Other autonomous regions will have to send entries through their parent country. For example, a singer from the Åland Islands would represent Finland and a singer from the Faroe Islands would represent Denmark.

Artists

To be eligible to represent a country in FdlC, an artist must:

Have lived in their country for at least 10 years.

Have some sort of significant tie to that country (such as competing in Eurovision or a national final in that country).

Have full citizenship (i.e., an artist’s parents being from the country does not let the artist participate in FdlC).

In the case of bands, a majority of members must be from the country the band will represent. For bands without a clear majority, they will be able to represent the country in which the band is based.

In the case of duets, the duet can represent either country.

You’re trusted to check your selection against these rules. If the moderator checks and finds that you’ve violated one of the rules, you’ll have one chance to change your selection, otherwise you’ll be banned from that edition.

If you think you have an artist that doesn’t align with these rules yet has a strong enough connection to a country to represent it, please e-mail the hosts and explain the situation.

In cases of disputed/unclear eligibility, the ability for an artist or group to represent a country is up to the discretion of the hosts.

Participation

Reservation and Submission

Participation in FdlC is based on two steps, country reservation and song submission.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, countries will be reserved two days prior to songs being submitted.

Reservation is done via email to fetedelachanson@gmx.com at 19:00 CET on the specified date. This is the same process for submitting songs.

The reigning winner and contest hosts have pre-reservation privileges, enabling them to pick their countries first. Their picks will be made public before reservations open.

Voting

Votes will be collected via e-mail to fetedelachanson@gmx.com.

Once your votes have been submitted. You may not change them, so be sure that your votes are correct when you submit them.

Do not publish your votes before the results are revealed.

Ties will be broken according to official EBU rules.

If you win, you’re required to send the hosts the details (host city, hosts, and venue) for the next edition.

If you do not vote in the either the semi-finals or the final, you’ll be banned for one edition, unless you give the hosts prior notification via e-mail.

Not voting in a semi-final will result in disqualification, as well as a one-edition ban.

Cheating

If you’re found to be cheating in any way, your IP will be banned for the length of one edition.

Cheating entails having two songs in one edition, voting for another player without host approval, or publicly revealing your votes before the results have been announced.

Other infractions will be dealt with at the hosts’ discretion.

Organization

There will be a limit of 32 finalists. If the number of interested participants exceed this, the interested parties exceeding the 32 will be put on a wait list in the case of a participant withdrawal.

Every odd-numbered edition will be a special edition. This edition will include a special theme to consider or restriction on the eligibility of songs that will be announced by the start of the country selection phase of that edition.